When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others.

Love is not about possession. Love is about appreciation.

To think in terms of either pessimism or optimism oversimplifies the truth. The problem is to see reality as it is.

Right practice is steady practice. Whether you feel lazy or diligent, just keep practicing.

Wisdom arises when you see the true characteristics of phenomena through direct experience.

The mind is the root from which all things grow. If you can understand the mind, everything else is included.

The purpose of our lives is to be happy.

Mindfulness is the gentle effort to be continuously present with experience.

The eye with which I see Buddha is the same eye with which Buddha sees me.

Real happiness comes from having an unshakable connection to the deep wellspring of peace and happiness that is not dependent on external conditions.

The essence of bravery is being without self-deception.

As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind.

The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with.

When the heart is still, it can be kind. When the mind is still, it can see clearly.

To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening.

The present moment is the only moment available to us, and it is the door to all moments.

The mind is everything. What you think, you become.

The more precisely you note, the more clearly you understand. The more clearly you understand, the stronger your insight becomes.

The mind is intrinsically empty. It's empty of all that we perceive as being intrinsically "me" and "mine."

All that appears and exists, all of samsara and nirvana, has one ground, two paths, and two results. This is the magical display of awareness and unawareness.

When we rest in awareness, we discover a peace that is always present, regardless of circumstances.

When you are you, Zen is Zen. Big mind is just big mind.

Life is an art, and like perfect art it should be self-forgetting.

The Buddha's teaching is not a philosophical system but a practical guide to living.

The role of Zen is neither to stand above life nor to run away from it, but to face it with a spirit of determination.

The path of insight is a path of discovery, not a path of creation. We are discovering what is already there.

Happiness is found in the simplest of things. It is not in the things you own, but in the love you share.

Rather than letting our negativity get the better of us, we could acknowledge that right now we feel like a piece of shit and not be squeamish about taking a good look.

Meditation in the midst of activity is a thousand times superior to meditation in stillness.

Meditation is not about getting away from it all. It's about getting into it all.

Neither from itself nor from another, nor from both, nor without a cause, does anything whatever, anywhere arise.

The Four Noble Truths are not merely theoretical propositions but a framework for understanding and transforming our experience.

In true vipassana practice, there is no room for likes and dislikes. There is only observation.